Monthly Archives: July 2013

A friend of mine, Mary Wollesen, designs quilts. I mean, these are not your typical quilts made to throw over a bed, although she has some lovely ones doing just that. The below quilt Mary named ‘Rainy Days and Sundays’ looks perfectly at home on someone’s bed. However, most of Mary’s creations are one-of-a-kind treasures, made to hang on walls or drape over sofas or chairs. They are gorgeous works of art. People spend hours admiring, appreciating, and snuggling in them. It’s so win-win. A couple of days ago I was a writer lost in Mary’s field, out searching for fabrics. Mary’s always got a new project going and I wanted to rip apart a threadbare dress, use it as a pattern, and make a new one from it. So we lunched and zipped in and out of stores, talking about the creative process while sifting through stacks of cloth. Oddly enough, the quilting and writing businesses have a lot of similarities. For instance: You need to first come up with an idea for the fabric/story. Then you need to pattern/plot it, followed by pinning/hanging it together, and finally, you need to have the skill, talent, and tenacity to get in there and make it whole. We also discussed the different daily approaches like: how comfortable is your work area (or just how long can you lean over fabric cutting it out or banging out words on a keyboard before your back freezes up)? How do you find time to get the work done with constant interruptions, such as life, love, and laundry? How do you get yourself to produce when you don’t feel like it? How can you love doing something, when it is such a pain in the butt much of the time? Hmmmm. No answer to the last question. So it comes to pass that all us artistic types are a little nutty. It’s just not writers. I was worried there for a spell. But doing what we do not only makes us happy, it…

The Culinary Art of Murder, Book 6 of the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, is now available at Amazon!

Blurb:
Lee’s Uncle Tío is smitten with the lady guest chef at a Silicon Valley culinary art institute. When the lady is arrested for two murders, a fellow chef, and the dishwasher, Lee agrees to help find the real killer. But undercover work at the institute proves to be more dangerous than whipping up a chocolate soufflé. Can she find the murderer before her own goose is cooked? If it turns out to be the ambitious southern belle chef, will Tío ever forgive Lee for sending his new lady love to jail?

Honeymoons Can Be Murder is now available for download only at Amazon!

When PI Lee Alvarez goes on her honeymoon with bridegroom, Gurn Hanson, they find a dead woman practically on their doorstep. Kauai breezes may be soft, but there are gale force winds of accusation against Gurn. Will Lee find the real killer before her new hubby gets sent to a Hawaiian hoosegow?

Books

The reviews are in!
Bestthrillers.com - The Culinary Art of Murder "The Bottom Line: This cozy mystery has it all – romance, suspense, comedy and a detective you’ll fall hard for."